Note: SSCs are social security contributions. VAT is value added tax. GST is goods and services tax. Scandinavia is the average of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. OECD, EU14 and Scandinavian averages are unweighted. For Australia and Japan, 2019 data are unavailable; 2018 figures are therefore used in their place.
Source: OECD Global Revenue Statistics Database. The tax categories have the following OECD identifying numbers: income taxes (1100), SSCs + payroll taxes (2000 and 3000), VAT + GST (5111 and 5112), other indirect taxes (5113, 5120, 5130, 5200 and 5300), corporate income taxes (1200), recurrent buildings taxes (4100), other taxes on property/capital (4200, 4300, 4400, 4500 and 4600) and other taxes (1300, 6000 and custom duties collected for the EU).
Lower headline tax rates on self-employment than on employment aren’t justified by differences in benefits or employment rights, and are poorly targeted at improving investment incentives.